asylum crisis

Family reunification is still the main reason for immigrants to come to the Netherlands, according to Statistics Netherlands. Even at the peak of the asylum crisis in 2015, there were twice as many family reunification immigrants as asylum seekers given a residency permit, the statistics office said on Monday based on new figures.

In 2015 a total of 159 thousand immigrants moved to the Netherlands. A third of them came to join a family member already living in the Netherlands. The rest came to the Netherlands for work, studies or to apply for asylum.

Dutch residents went on vacation more often in 2016, though more of them stuck to vacationing in the Netherlands rather than going abroad, according to figures from NBTC NIPO Research. Dutch also paid closer attention to safety last year, avoiding places with terrorism threat or political unrest. Turkey in particular was a place to avoid for the Dutch last year, with visits there decreasing by 30 percent, NOS reports.

The Netherlands' presidency of the European Union has come to an end. From today Slovakia is the new president. On Thursday EU council president Donald Tusk thanked Prime Minister Mark Rutte for the term, which which was not the easiest time to be president, with the asylum crisis, the Ukraine referendum and the Brexit referendum to deal with.

Five men from Geldermalsen and surroundings are appearing in the court in Arnhem on Monday to account for their role in anti-asylum center riots in Geldermalsen in December last year. They are being charged with disruption of the democratic order, a law that is hardly ever used in the Netherlands, according to both NOS and NRC.

The Netherlands and Germany are clashing about the fate of 900 asylum seekers. The Netherlands wants to send these asylum seekers back to Germany, because that is where they were first registered. But Germany is refusing to take them

The asylum agreement between Turkey and the European Union seems to be bearing its first fruits. Since the agreement took effect last month, only 101 Syrians submitted their first application for asylum in the Netherlands - a much lower number than the 5,249 Syrian applications received at the peak in October last year

State Secretary Klaas Dijkhoff of Security and Justice was faced with riots during a visit to a asylum camp on the Greek island of Lesbos on Tuesday. Asylum seekers threw stones while shouting "freedom" and "open borders"

The Netherlands' central agency for asylum seekers COA spent 800 million euros last year to supply the thousands of asylum seekers in the country with a place to sleep, a place to wash and something to eat, the Telegraaf reports based on the COA's financial statements.

VVD leader Halbe Zijlstra compared failed asylum seekers to organized crime boss Willem Holleeder after the crisis meeting on what to do about failed asylum seekers at the Ministry of Social Affairs on Monday, NU reports.